Improvement in brush and broom holders



D. M. SPALDING; `Brush and Broom Holder.

No. 203,208. qnted April 30,1878.

UNITED STATES PATENTN @Enron DVIGHT- M. SPLDING, OF SOUTH` WOODSTOCK, ASSIGNOR? OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT TO JOEL R. HOLOOMB AND E. KNIGHT SPERRY, OF HARTFORD,

coivNncTicUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN` BRUSH AND BROOM`HOLLDERS'.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 203,208; dated April 30, 1878; application'filed March 12, 187s.

To alllwhom it may concern:

Beit known that I, DWIGHT M. SPALDING, of South Woodstock, Windham` county, Connecticut, have invented an Improvement in Brush and Broom Holders, of which the following is a speciiication:

` This invention consists in the construction not only of the means for attaching handles to brushes, brooms, mop-holders, and like implements, but to Vthe means for adjusting such handles in various positions of inclination relative to the same, all of which is too particularly hereinafter set forth to need preliminary description. y

In the drawings illustrative of my improvements, Figure l is a sidefelevation of a brush with its handle attached, said figure showing in dotted lines two ofthe adjustments which said handle is capable of receiving. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same device, parts of which are in section the better to show their construction. Fig. 3 shows an elevation and bottom-plan view of the ball and its attachingshank, while Fig. 4 shows the fasteningthimble in elevation, bottom and top plan views.

The necessity of properly securing its handle to a brush or broom head, or to the head of a floor-mop and many kindred articles of household use, so that the parts shall not only be securely fixed one to the other, but remain so during all the strains to which they are subjected by wear or use, contact with iiuids, or exposure to weather, and also be capable of having their means of union tightened or made more secure when loosened by warping, or their parts otherwise become displaced, has resulted in the structure of an innite variety of clamps and other means for uniting said parts 5 but the necessity of a cheap, durable, and effective'device still exists, and it is to this end that one of the improvements eected by me is directed, which improvement I will now proceed to minutely describe.

The head H, which may support a number of tufts of hair, bristles, or splints, as A, thus forming a brush or broom, or carry a number l of strips of cloth or bunches of wicking and the like, as a mop, or be provided with any other brushing or wiping means, is perforated centrally with a mortise, into which is fitted a thimble, T. This thimble is provided with one or more side ribs', as 3, which prevent its turning in the mortise, and with a iiange, 2, by which it is seated against the under surface of the head H. It is further provided with tapered interior walls adapted to iit the like construction of the shank 4, to which the handle B is to be attached, and has an oblong perforation, 5, `throughits bottom, which is intersected transversely by a groove, 6, which preferably has right-angular sides. The shank 4 is provided at its lower extremity with square yshouldered arms 7 7, which are adapted to bev seated'in the groove 6, and immediately above .them it is reducedto` form a circular neck,

which permits it to freely turn in the oblong perforation 5. This shank, moreover, has its body provided with a screw-threaded portion, 9, adapted to receive a clamping-nut, l0, which carries wings or thumb and finger rests l1, by which it may be rotated.

lTo adjust the parts in place, the thimble T is forced into the mortise in the head H until the flange 2 is seated snugly against its under side. The said shank 4, upon which the clamping-nut 10 has been placed, is then introduced through the thimble until its flanged end protrudes through the opening 5, being thereupon rotated until the flanges 7 become aligned with'and enter the groove 6. The nut l0 is then turned up until it rests upon the top surface .of the head H, and draws the anges 7 firmly into the groove 6, and the parts are rigidly seated in place. The shank 4 will thus be firmly affixed to the head, and will resist any ordinary wear and usage without becoming loosened, and may be continued in that position by occasionally tightening up the clamping-nut l0. The said shank 4 may be attached to a handle in any simple and approved manner, and the brush or similar article be ma nipulated as is common with articles having straight handles.

This fastening device will enable one to readily detach the handle from one brush or implement and quickly attach the same to another, thus furnishing a number of brushes or similar implements with a common or interchangeable handle.

In manipulating such articles, however, as brushes which require to be used by a person while in various inconvenient positions relative to the surface to be operated upon, it has been, and continues to be, a desideratum to provide the article with a handle which may be iXedly set or adjusted at various angles of inclination with respect to the head H of a brush or similar implement; and in order to supply a ready, inexpensive, and effective means of accomplishing such adjustments, I provide the shank 4 with a globe-like head or ball, 12, which is adapted to iit within a socket,

13, which is provided with an internal screwthread, as shown7 by which it is attached to the handle B. This socket affords a perfect bearing or seat for the ball 12, and with it constitutes a ball-and-socket oruniversal joint, connecting the handle to the brush head, wherebysaid handle may be moved in any direction with respect tothe head H, and by screwing the handle snugly into said socket its end will so press upon the ball 12 as to clamp the same immovably in the socket, and thus i hold the handle flXedly in its adj usted position.

By unloosening the handle any new adjustment of it may be effected, and the handle secured there, by simply screwing it again snugly upon the ball 12.

It is apparent that the screw-thread 14, carried by the handle, may, and preferably will, be formed on a metal shoe fixed to the handle,

and, further, that the socket 13 may be provided with an external screw-thread, and the handle or metal shoe thereon carry the internal screw-thread; but in this structure a central projection must be formed upon the end of the handle, to engage with and clamp the ball 12 into said socket. 4

A handle which is secured to .the head H by other means than that herein shown may be supplied with my improved adjusting device. Thus the shank 4may have the form of a screw-bolt held in place by a fastening-nut upon its end, or be a simple rod keyed in place. The ball 12 might also form a part of a cast head, H.

Having now fully described my improvements and set forth their merits, what I claim 1. The combination, with the head H and the thimble T, having a groove, 6, of the shank 4, having the arms 7 and clamping-nut 10,

substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the head H, pro vided with the ball 12, and with means for attaching the two together, of the socket 13 and screw-threaded handle B, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

D. SPALDING.

A Witnesses:

HENRY T. MUNsoN, GEORGE H. GRAHAM. 

